Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment that would reduce Deputy Secretary Jake Li's salary to $1.

Prior to joining the EPA under the Biden administration, Jake Li spent over a decade of his career working for liberal nongovernmental organizations who remain solvent by litigating entities, including the EPA, for agricultural practices they disagree with, regardless of the utility to America's farm families and consumers.

Despite Congress passing language requiring EPA to take USDA feedback into account when developing mitigation measures, these proposals were developed without EPA input, leading USDA to express substantial concerns about the severe economic consequences for some farmers.

According to USDA estimates, the cost for all corn acres in Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska to comply with the herbicide strategy could be upwards of $5.5 billion, and that estimate is for just one commodity across three States.

This regulatory overreach is just another example of the burdensome regulations EPA forces on our farm families and those living in rural America just to cater to the demands of environmental extremists like those Jake Li used to work with.

Frankly, even $1 is too much for the chief architect of these wrongheaded and callous strategies that seek to put American farmers and ranchers out of business.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. I urge support of my amendment, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would prohibit funding for the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Workgroup that advances the Biden administration's radical DEI agenda.

This workgroup's website links to a page of resources with hundreds of woke documents.

From the military to corporations to Federal agencies, we have seen time and time again that the DEI mission fosters division in the workplace.

DEI undermines our shared American identity and distracts from the missions of our Federal agencies. DEI hurts recruiting efforts and erodes trust between all Federal employees and the government they serve.

At a time when our growing national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, we cannot continue to use taxpayer dollars to fund wasteful and unnecessary woke programs.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and prohibit funding for policies that advance the Biden administration's radical diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Our Nation was made great because we have rewarded merit.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, this amendment defunds a costly and misguided EPA agency rule that requires heavy-duty vehicles to comply with reduced emissions limits of nitrogen oxides and other pollutants.

This rule applies to vehicles, including certain long- and short-haul trucks, motor homes, school and transit buses, and commercial pickup trucks and vans.

The EPA, the very agency that created this rule, estimates the technology required to meet the new rule's standards will cost around $8,000 per vehicle. This cost will be borne by consumers and the supply chain.

The American people cannot afford the financial burdens of this aggressive regulation that would further raise costs of any product transported by trucks, including food, clothing, and building materials.

This regulation's cost of compliance is so high, operators and owners of trucks will be forced to leave the market.

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Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I urge the Democrats to quit complaining about inflation while they are fanning the flame through excessive regulation.

Mr. Chair, I urge the support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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